think you have to expand the discussion of curbing greenhouse gas emissions -- and by the way, the story about your kids was eloquent, and i appreciate the way you said it. how can we tie that into the entire issue of improving a way of life and our environmental standards and our quality of life? that is just an idea. bring in the natural habitat. bring in the great outdoors to our discussion. it is a good part about jobs, and it is about making us more energy sustainable, but also it is about people. one of the things is how can we convince the american people of what we want to do? i do not have the answer. i just have an idea. >> thank you so much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2010] >> in his weekly address, president obama observed the ninth anniversary of the september 11th terrorist attacks, paying tribute to the victims that day and the sacrifices of our troops abroad. the minority whip also mark september 11th and discussed the ongoing military response to those attacks. this is 10 minutes. >> today, we mark a day in our

history. we will never forget the anger and the sadness that we felt. while nine years have come and gone since that september morning, the passage of time it will never diminish the pain and loss forever seared into the consciousness of our nation. that is why on this day, we pray with the families of those who died. we mourn with the husbands and wives, children and parents, friends and loved ones. we think about the miles does that have passed over the course of nine years, births and christenings, weddings and graduations, all with an empty chair. on this day, we honor those who died so that others might live, the firefighters and first responders to climb the stairs into two burning towers, the passengers who stormed a cockpit, and the men and women who in the years since have borne the uniform of this

country so that our children can grow up in a safer world. they defended a simple precept. i am my brother's keeper. i m my sister's keeper. and on this day, we recall that in our darkest moment, we summon commonnse of unity and purpose. we responded to the worst of the tax with the best of our humanity. -- the worst of attacks with the best of our humanity. we will never waver in our defense of this nation. we renew our commitment to our troops and their families. we also renew the true spirit of that day, not the human capacity for evil, but the human capacity for good, not the desire to destroy, but the impulse to save. that is why we mark september

11th as a national day of service and it remembrance. the third lesson to be drawn is this, we are one nation, one people, bound not only by degrees, but by a set of common ideals that by giving back to our communities, by giving to people in need, we reaffirm our ideals in defiance of those who would do was great harm. we proved that the sense of responsibility we felt for one another that a nine years ago, was not a fleeting passion, but a lasting virtue. this is a difficult time for our country. it is often in such moments that some try to stoke bitterness and the vitas' based on our differences, to blind as -- and divide us based on our differences, to blind as to what we have in common. on this day, let us not give in to the temptation. we stand beside one another.

we fight alongside one another. we do not allow ourselves to be defined by fear, but rather by the hopes we have for our families, our nation, and a better future. let us grieve for those who were lost and those who sacrificed, and do our best to live up to the shared values that we have, on this day and every day that follows. thank you. >> good morning. i am the center of arizona. on the state nine years ago, islamic terrorists hijacked four commercial jets and killed 3000 innocent people. americans finally realized that the sporadic attacks that have occurred earlier were not isolated events, but were part of a war that had been declared by leaders of militant islamist groups, and had to be confronted as such. in the unity that immediately followed by 9/11, a number of actions were taken.

congress resolved that afghanistan could no longer serve as a sanctuary for al- qaeda. we also passed the patriot act. the president directed our intelligence agencies to better use modern technology to gather incarnation. the u.s. military pursued al- qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan. we helped to turn the tide against al-qaeda in iraq. key leaders were captured and provided information useful in thwarting future attacks. these and other actions have made us safer, but ironically, the very fact that we have less attacked hasg the tr weakened the bonds of unity that held us together after the attack.

we lack the urgency and commitments the necessary to succeed in war. some in government refused to even speak the name of our adversary lest they offend, but one of the first rules of war is to know your enemy. the enemy is a corrupted ideology that seeks to destroy it liberal western culture and governance and replace it with the medieval concept and islamic council governed by sharia law. a failure to appreciate what the enemy wants and how it intends to win would be fatal to our efforts to combat this ideology. is also important to differentiate this militant ideology from the muslim faith

practiced by over a billion people all around the globe. focus on islam rather then the real adversary diverts attention and insults those muslims. the insidious effort to gain political influence not just in the middle east, but in europe and japan as well, as -- has set off our capacity to respond. the ninth anniversary of 9/11 should cause us to think hard about the enemy that attacked us and will do so again if we relax our efforts. we need to remember that direct terrorist attacks are but one of the tactics of this determined enemy. today we should remember the victims of 9/11 and their

families. we should also recall the sacrifice of those in our military, including of a loved ones of those lost. tomorrow and beyond, we should recapture the unity that allowed us to come together as a nation to confront a determined energy. that -- a determined enemy. that is neither a republican nor a democratic challenge. that is an american challenge. >> we are travelling the country to look at some of the most closely contested house races leading up to the election in november. >> i am and the president of local 1647. we are having our annual pig roast for people who are labor friendly.

>> thank you. i hope to see you soon. [unintelligible] >> the incoming congress and has represented the 11th district since 1985. of partsrict is made uppe of northeastern pennsylvania. it has voted consistently democratically. it voted for obama by 11 points. george bush won the district but only four points. he did not do as well as obama.

-- the senator when the district by only four points. he did not do as well as obama. that is what republicans think they can take the district. -- why republicans think they can take the district. doing a great job. we need someone like you. >> the challenger has been the hazleton mayor since 1999. his family owned a well known amusement park down there. he is very popular in some cities. hazleton is a very small part of the district.

they are at the forefront of local municipalities trying to impose illegal immigration rules. they want to penalize landlords to rent to a legal immigrants. he has come out as a proponent of dealing with illegal immigration. he has come out as one of the republicans young guns, which means that they will target him with money in the fall. the reason they are is because he has shown that he -- he came close to beating his opponent, and they think in this political climate he can beat him.

since 2003, the district has included scranton. the district now has the three largest cities in the northeastern pennsylvania. he has served on the house financial services committee. he was a big part of rewriting the wall street reform package. he is -- he succeeded a very popular congressman who succeeded in bringing home the bacon, and he has tried to emulate him in many ways. he has the authority that the new congressman would not have, plus he is in the majority party. >> longevity and seniority is much more than years. it means that you know who the people are in washington, in the

2000 most powerful positions in the federal government of the united states. i have worked with most of those people for 26 years. >> at one time, lackawanna county was one of the oldest counties in the the nation. the median income fall slightly below the state median income. our major industry is health care. manufacturing used to be, but it has been on the slide for years. it's a big hit here even before the recession. it is considered working class and is targeted a lot by presidential candidates because it is full of swing voters, people who have shown that it will go -- that they will go both ways when presidential elections roll around. jobless rates are much higher